24 minute read
Crypto Market Outlook
By DBillionaer
So far, we have been in this current “bear market” for nearly 10 months now and it has been hell for those with diamond hands, but we are starting to see regulation discussed more heavily within the halls of congress.
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Some decentralized finance (DeFi) proponents may see this regulation as a negative.
This could very well be true or maybe not. There’s a delicate balance between regulation and mass adoption, as we’ve seen with every global technology to ever come out (computers, internet, cellphones etc.)
When governments are trying to figure out how to regulate a global technology sector, the use and adoption will usually rise because the trust that someone is looking out for you will help gain more traction.
This can be good, and bad, at the same time. While government oversight can be a positive thing lending credibility, too much oversight, and crypto loses its prowess as an advocate for the people.
UST. LUNA. CELSIUS. VOYAGER. 3AC. HOTBIT. RONIN. HARMONY. ACALA.
You should be familiar with these names, and specifically UST and LUNA.
These names are a large part of the reason the government is so gung-ho lately about regulation
and more specifically, regulation in the stablecoin space.
The domino effect of the collapse of UST and LUNA has given the federal regulators even more ammo recently to push for such regulation.
There are also almost monthly hacks of bridges connecting the different blockchains.
Mt. GOX distribution (140,000 BTC) is supposed to be coming at the end of the month (August.)
There is also a trial coming up regarding the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.
Many of the crypto sector businesses have laid off people or put a freeze on hiring new people. All the while however, people’s interest in crypto remains high: it’s a hot topic, not only among investors, but in popular culture too, thanks to everyone from long-standing advocates like Elon Musk and Michael Saylor, to that guy you met at Wendy’s talking about babydogerocketinu.
It’s difficult to predict where we will end up but most of the smart people are following things like regulation and institutional adoption of crypto payments to try and gauge where the market is heading.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order in March that called on government agencies to study the “responsible development” of digital assets, including stablecoins.
The U.S. Treasury Department recently published the first framework to stem from President Biden’s executive order on digital assets, which outlines how the U.S. should engage with other countries regarding digital assets.
More regulation could mean more stability in this highly volatile crypto market.
It also has the potential to protect long-term investors, prevent fraudulent activity within crypto, and provide clear guidance to allow companies to innovate.
In a worst-case scenario, it could completely stifle growth due to red tape and higher financial burdens.
In the private sector we are starting to see more commercials for crypto, NFT’s, and the Metaverse.
People who weren’t interested in crypto last year are starting to ask more questions about it. More celebrities and corporations are leaning towards promoting cryptocurrency.
But what does all this really mean?
It could mean that big money, and smart money, are wanting to get involved, or already are figuring out ways to make profits from the space.
It could mean that the sector is about to turn for the better.
It could also not matter at all, and it all goes to zero at some point because of some inherent flaw yet to be seen.
Never forget this is an experiment and we have yet to reach its conclusion.
Therefore, the most common saying in crypto is, “don’t invest more than you can afford to lose,” right next to “do your own research” and “not financial advice”.
For me particularly it does not change much as I can make just as much money in a crash as I can in a bull run if I play my cards right.
So, in conclusion, the market outlook, depending on your vantage point and your skill set, is never set in stone, one direction or the other.
My final recommendation to people in crypto is work on your skill set. Learn how to make money in both directions so that there is no such thing as a bear market, just another direction to make money in.
How to get Started Understanding Crypto Investing
Frequent headlines proclaim that Bitcoin or some other new cryptocurrency is the gold standard in the new world of digital assets. Even though no one wants to miss out on a gold rush, Bitcoin isn’t gold, while its rival protocols like Ethereum, Solana, or FTX Exchange Token aren’t either. Nevertheless, just like gold mining, crypto mining requires energy to acquire something that may have a finite supply depending on the coin’s inflation schedule.
There are currently more than 12,000 cryptocurrencies that facilitate peer-to-peer transfers of data and value. In a study conducted in 2022 regarding financial literacy, 56% of adults said they were beginners in crypto. If you believe in the future of crypto-assets but have no idea how to invest in them, what does this mean? You can make sense of this relatively new landscape if you have an advisor who is well versed in crypto.
The Most Important Points to Know When Getting Started Investing in Crypto
Most advisors are hesitant to recommend crypto to clients since they aren’t well-versed in it.
There is no such thing as an industry standard for certification in crypto investing as there is one for CFPs.
While crypto has a market cap in the trillions, many do not consider it an investment vehicle and instead, see it as more of a way to gamble. The majority of adults in the
U.S. lack a deep understanding of digital assets. There are no guarantees regarding future performance. Investors and advisors should keep this in mind.
Is Buying Crypto Investing or Gambling?
Futures trading has been asked that since 1710 when the Dojima Rice Exchange in Japan opened for business. There are many factors to consider when educating yourself about cryptocurrencies’ technology. Who can give you advice on whether to invest?
Don’t expect your financial advisor to recommend buying, holding, or selling crypto. Most investment advisors who like alternative assets that move independently of the S&P 500 Index, are unlikely to recommend putting part of your portfolio into crypto. Here are
two reasons wealth managers steer clear of crypto.
Adviser Skepticism is Rampant Due to Lack of Education
In the first place, they see this rush as just another fad in the financial sphere that must play out before any guidance can be provided. Additionally, it is a space that does not have established regulatory bodies but does have some companies that hate all cryptocurrencies when they are sold to retail customers.
Several individual investors are interested in cryptocurrencies because of their abundance and the game-like nature of obtaining them. However, please make no mistake: cryptocurrencies may be thrilling, but it is not a good idea to bet money on a new financial product without knowing how it works.
Your Financial Advisor Is Trying to Keep you Safe
Even if he or she has in-depth knowledge of crypto, a digital currency advisor cannot advise on buying or selling cryptocurrencies. In this regard, they are not alone. Rather than sell transactions, an advisor’s job is to manage their clients’ money and hopes. To protect advisory clients from themselves, the advisor filters out the noise in the market and steers them away from cryptocurrency scams. As an example, crypto scammers stole $14 billion in 2021.
Financial Advisors Find it Hard Recommending Cryptocurrency
Financial advisors in Boston note that when clients inquire about investing in crypto, it’s often because they’ve heard how much money they can make. Investing in cryptocurrencies is essentially gambling at the moment, according to the advisor, because they are so risky.
Focusing on the technology behind cryptocurrencies, the blockchain, is a better way to think about cryptocurrencies. This technology is a distributed ledger in a sense. The most well-known cryptocurrency is Bitcoin because it was the first feasible cryptocurrency and has the highest market capitalization. Initial blockchain technology was developed for payment processing, but it actually has a lot of truly solid potential applications. Data management, identity tokenization, secure audit trails, and data tokenization are all possibilities.
Financial Advisors Can Help, if they are Crypto Literate
In an ideal world, your financial advisor would decide which cryptocurrencies to include in your portfolio and how much to invest. A vast majority of advisors in the real world do not even recognize them as an investable asset class. This prevents them from being discussed intelligently.
Where can you get good advice if you consider investing in Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other cryptocurrency? As a safe haven, you can always rely on the less-than-5% rule, which tells you not to put more than 5% of your portfolio into highrisk investments. If you’re working with most financial advisors, you’ll have to get a little creative in your quest for crypto investments.
Here are Some Options for Getting in the Market
Cryptocurrencies can be accessed in more ways than one, however, not all of them involve actually purchasing the digital
assets directly. Rather than helping you own cryptocurrency now, some knowledgeable advisors prefer to take one of these indirect approaches.
Your financial advisor might choose one of the following options:
Bitcoin stocks or blockchain-related companies
Buying Bitcoin futures
Hedge funds focused on cryptocurrency
ETFs related to cryptocurrency mining
As with betting on a horse race, you should only bet how much you can afford to lose on cryptocurrencies. Cryptoassets are not automatically gambling and are not investments because of their high level of risk. As with “real” assets, there are plenty of other investments that are equally risky. Yet, if cryptocurrencies replace conventional investments, advisors will need to catch up with those who were there first. A person or government cannot inflate cryptocurrencies due to the mathematical limitations built into them, reducing some risk.
Buying Cryptocurrencies
You may have to do the heavy lifting and buy the cryptocurrency yourself, if you have spent time studying blockchain technology and wish to invest in it, and not just as another investment vehicle. To store your cryptocurrencies securely, you need a digital wallet, such as a Bitcoin Wallet.
The best way to convert any cryptocurrency into cash is to find an exchange that supports trading the currency you want to purchase. For example, Coinbase is one of the most well-known crypto exchanges. Using fiat currency, you can buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other crypto products on this exchange.
The regulation was required by an executive order issued by President Biden in March 2022. Regulations are being drafted by both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. President Obama has also suggested that a new regulator may be needed.
Are Your Advisors Knowledgeable About Cryptocurrencies?
Some digital exchanges do not support all cryptocurrencies and/or all fiat currencies (the technical term for dollars, euros, yen, and other currencies). You should begin with well-known companies like Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini, and do your homework before investing anything. Even the best crypto exchanges are not without flaws. Analyze each exchange’s history of account closures, outages, and ties with traditional banks.
If you plan to use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, you should learn the safest ways to store them. Authenticating your account on the exchange you have selected, either in its mobile app or through its website, is all it takes to buy or
sell cryptocurrencies. Failing that, you may want to create your own cryptocurrency wallet to hold the currency rather than using one provided by the site.
How Do Crypto Advisors Work?
Crypto advisors understand how cryptocurrency works and the best ways to invest in it. Those who stay abreast of cryptocurrency and blockchain developments may be registered as investment advisors, licensed representatives, or hold a credential such as Chartered Financial Analyst or Certified Financial Planner.
Interested in Becoming a Crypto Advisor?
Currently, there is no “official” way to become a Professional Cryptocurrency Advisor. Nevertheless, most states require businesses selling cryptocurrencies to obtain a license as money transmitters. Retailers of cryptocurrencies fit this definition, although not very comfortably, as state licensing and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) are in charge of combating fraud and money laundering.
Why Would a Financial Advisor Recommend Cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrencies are ideal for investors who believe in the future of digital currencies and wish to protect their financial information online. Inflation and political manipulation are also less of a threat with cryptocurrencies. In most cases, mathematical algorithms are used to enforce a cap, preventing dilution. Furthermore, if you have surplus assets to spend, crypto is a great place to speculate.
Where Can I Find an Advisor Experienced in Crypto?
Cryptocurrencies may appear on advisor websites, but there is always the possibility they are merely promoting it. Ask them some probing questions about blockchain and Bitcoin and see if they are able to engage in an intelligent discussion. Some advisors seeking a deeper understanding of crypto may pursue the Certified Digital Asset Advisor designation.
Conclusion
Blockchain technology is still in its infancy. Every day, new coins are added, and the once niche concept of blockchain is gaining real-world traction and government attention. As regulators gain more knowledge about how to tax crypto, new taxes are likely to be imposed. While it is becoming more and more important for advisors to understand the asset class, many are reluctant to do so and even hesitant to recommend it. This makes finding an advisor well-versed in crypto difficult, but not impossible.
How to Make Money Mining Cryptocurrency from Home, for Ambitious Readers Only
By Seth “MineYourBiz” Estrada
Is mining still profitable? In a word, yes.
But before we discuss how to mine, let’s first review why you’d even want to, starting with a sweetened and condensed history of the crypto mining industry. against time, adjusted network difficulty, and other miners.
But in exchange for that minor discomfort and a few pennies of electricity daily, one of the world’s first provably unique sources of wealth was created, 50 Bitcoin at a time.
And, of course, the amount of risk this type of mining exposed to any individual user of Bitcoin was meager. Hundreds of dollars. Not hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, as is the case with corporate mining interests.
Things were truly simpler back then.
Tales of the early days of Bitcoin mining still live on in online forums. Back when bitcoin was still abbreviated as “BC,” no fancy artwork was available, and the only way to mine was to sync the entire blockchain; you could download the main Bitcoin core wallet and then press an inconspicuous-looking little menu option called “Generate Coins.”
Your laptop or desktop PC would transform from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde. Roaring to life, miners would heat up an office or bedroom and sound like a micro jet turbine as the CPU violently executed as many SHA256 hashes as possible, racing
Fast forward to the present day, and the situation has changed drastically.
Huge mining facilities with onsite power generation dominate the blockchain industry for every major coin, especially Bitcoin.
Energy exploration companies that traditionally posted annual losses for their natural gas flares are now capturing that run-off with generators feeding mobile Bitcoin mining units, fueling a cottage industry for each piece of infrastructure.
Nowadays, mining SHA-256 for Bitcoin is not remotely competitive on a solo laptop or even a warehouse full of highend servers or graphics cards.
Speaking of graphics cards, heck, even Ethereum, the GPU miner’s safe haven of 7 years (almost to the day as of composing this article), looks like it will no longer be a viable way to trade watts for coins once the beacon chain merges.
So how is it possible that crypto miners are as bullish as ever?
And more importantly, how can the average person- not a network engineer or systems administrator- manage to mine profitably from their home?
First, there are more ways than ever to provide blockchain consensus security or “mine.” And some of the current options would have been considered impossible when Satoshi Nakamoto was active. Crypto miners are bullish, not only because there are now more choices for which hardware is viable but also because recent price action has given the best pricing on hardware in many years. As Baron Rothschild said, miners also tend to buy when there is “blood in the streets” - even if that blood is their own!
And before we answer the second question…
It’s time to get a little nerdy.
Put on your DIY goggles, and let’s evaluate the following 6 hardware options. Most of them can be purchased, assembled, and run by novice computer enthusiasts (except one).
We’ll briefly go over why miners are excited about each of them. Then, we’ll show clear steps on how a person who has never mined before can get started profitably today: 1. CPU - the central processing unit of any computer or smartphone. Every wellknown smart device, from home security systems to
Tesla automobiles, has a
CPU inside it. Monero & several other coins have been intentionally crafted to be mineable as “CPU-only.” Socalled “CPU-only” coins will continue to provide the same decentralization model that the earliest Bitcoin miners enjoyed. CPU mineable currencies give young adults and college students with only smartphones and laptops a fighting chance to earn coins from the small amount of electricity their devices produce.
2. GPU - the video processor inside a computer, capable of fewer general purpose calculations but at a massive performance boost for the specialized algorithms and maths they are designed to do. Multiple GPUs can fit into a single box or be run by a motherboard. One GPU can mine Ethereum and many other popular PoW coins.
With GPU’s current commercial and retail distribution, this is the highest bang-for-the-buck in decentralized hashing. Most GPU miners (including this author) believe that the blockchain industry will always provide gainful work for their mining rigs - even if that work isn’t securing Ethereum.
3. HDD - hard drives for general use. It’s common to see over a dozen hard drives stuffed into a single server chassis or find high-capacity USB backup drives on sale at local retail stores.
Dozens of new coin networks offer mining rewards for something like “Proof of Available
Capacity.” This means that any empty external storage drives you have lying around can offer some crypto rewards instead of just gathering dust. 3. ASIC - Application Specific
Integrated Circuit machines - the little “toasters” made by Bitmain, DragonMint, and other Chinese companies.
Bitcoin and most of its forks will remain locked into this type of hardware unless a significant code change adjusts the trend.
Bear markets have a way of reallocating these machines into lowerpriced power markets and at rock-bottom pricing for what was once bleeding edge hardware. During the 2019 bear market, ASIC rigs were sold by the pallet load, by weight rather than compute power.
5. IoT/WAN - Custom devices for networks that offer valueadded services through free coverage and are used as blockchain proof for securing consensus.
“Proof of Coverage” and
“Proof of Bandwidth” are common terms for this hardware type. Networks like Helium (HNT) are the current kings of lowpower mining. Still, they have experienced severe infrastructure problems vis-à-vis supply chains for the single-board computers used in their proprietarylicensed mining boxes. 6. Validator Nodes - servergrade machines designed for 99.999% uptime, attracting the delegation of coins from whales on proof-of-stake networks. Yes, this is still considered “mining.”
This category of equipment does require a systemsadministrator level of expertise. Still, it promises to be hugely rewarding in the coming years, as nextgen Ethereum competitors- and even Ethereum itself- will depend on the reliability and high throughput that only industrial hardware can provide.
OK, so we’ve nerded out.
Now how do I make computers mine “free” coins? And how much profit can it yield?
1. Take account of all the hardware you already have access to.
2. Find out which hashing algorithms (and coins) your hardware can mine.
3. Set up a secure software environment.
4. Weigh short term profit against long term investment.
5. Use what you already have access to.
Considering the hardware you already have, it’s important to understand that the two major pitfalls of mining are overpaying for gear and overpaying for electricity.
There is no better price than free (or at least “already paid for”), so be thorough in your assessment.
Do you have an “old” gaming rig? It might have a pretty decent GPU in it!
How about some “old” smartphones or tablets? They may be able to mine certain CPU coins!
Additionally, let your friends and family know that you are actively looking for “old” computers, computer parts, and smart devices. Your personal sphere of influence can potentially drum up tens of thousands of dollars in mining gear for the price of asking around.
Above all, if you can get it for low or no cost, gather hardware first and ask questions later.
You can always donate to the local second-hand store or sell them on eBay if the parts don’t serve for mining.
Find out which coins this hardware can mine.
Three simple resources for beginners are:
1. the monero benchmarks (which give a good indication of how profitable a given
CPU might be) at xmrig.com 2. the ASIC comparisons at asicminervalue.com, and
3. the various data tabs at whattomine.com (which are particularly useful for GPU mining).
Once you have a solid understanding of which coins are accessible for the hardware you already have and know which coins you want to mine, you’ll need the correct software to get the hardware hashing!
Setting up the right environment for that hardware.
Depending on which hardware you’ve rounded up (i.e., CPUs, GPUs, motherboards, etc.), you may only need a windows application, or you might consider running a different operating system altogether (like Linux).
This is where most average people give up.
You will not.
Instead, you will make it all the way through to “profit.”
In the case of “mining OSes,” there are plenty of great options to choose from, and they make the management of your mining rigs extremely simple.
Some popular options are SMOS (Simple Mining), HiveOS, Minerstat, EthOS, and the more esoteric MMP OS.
They can all be run from a $5 USB thumb drive (for PC-based hardware). In the case of one or two of these options, special firmware can be flashed onto old ASICs to make them run faster and manageable from your central web dashboard.
The current state of mining control systems is nothing short of miraculous. It has truly never been easier to get started.
It’s also possible to set up your mining rigs on Microsoft Windows or Ubuntu Linux if you’re comfortable manually installing the mining applications.
Without going too deep into
the process, it should already be evident that this side of your mining journey will require a lot of research, trial, and error.
Making a profit; short sale vs the long game
OK, so to recap, you’ve:
1. Gotten your whole tribe involved. a. They’ve given you every scrap of available computer hardware they could find- even grandpa’s “secret”
GTA V gaming rig.
2. Discovered which coins can be mined, given the right software.
3. Decided which OS and mining applications you think will work best for the gear in hand.
The rigs are humming along beautifully, and you know that coins will soon come in consistently.
Now you have to measure your costs, subtract them from your gains, and decide what winning looks like for yourself.
As of writing this article, the US national average for electricity is about $0.14 per kilowatt-hour.
And mining most crypto currencies will be done at just a small margin above break-even in the present market.
On a given day, something like an RTX 3090Ti (the current flagship gaming GPU from Nvidia) returns almost $2.50 USD on Ethereum. But this reckoning only makes sense if you are counting the present day value of that ETH.
So here’s the big secret.
Are you ready…?
THE SHORT SALE IS FIAT & THE LONG GAME IS CRYPTO
OK, there may be good reasons to sell off mining profits early & often. And only you know your personal financial picture.
But using this “fiat standard”, you might target a specific amount of cash profit daily and realize that gain by selling on Coinbase or perhaps trading into a stablecoin.
And in the scenario above, this would yield about “two fiddy” each day.
No more, no less.
And adjusting for inflation, those dollars become worth less & less every month.
Using a “crypto standard”, you might want to trade at the most profitable times for a solid highcap coin.
If you’re a Bitcoiner, you’ll want sats. Ethereans will measure profit (and loss) in gwei.
In this case, at Ethereum’s current price ($1,885), an upward move back to all time high ($4,878) puts that daily profit of $2.50 closer to $6.47
Not bad!
But when that upward move happens (not if), Ethereum will very likely surpass its previous all time high! Crypto miners are bullish, not only because there are now more choices for which hardware is viable but also because recent price action has given the best pricing on hardware in many years
And of course for the misfits, the true degens, the real adrenaline junky risk takers, there are the speculative coins. Micro-caps. Memecoins. Obvious potential rugpulls like “Baby Burt Reynolds Wrastling A Gator Inu” (not a real project…yet) . And early new launches like DogeChain or Pulsechain (real projects) .
These long shots are just as accessible to miners as they are to anyone else. In fact, the slow drip of mining profits can help some speculative investors to pace themselves, or only play with “house money”.
In any case, miners generally win when they trade their watts for the highest possible return on the best-performing asset. So speculation is still a strong case for mining.
This will be the ongoing bumpy road of portfolio management, so buckle up.
Now that you’ve learned the basics of how to mine when it comes to profits and yield:
You can always dig deeper.
Graffiti on the Streets
How Bitcoin is Changing the World
There has been a new wave of artists that have used the cryptocurrency's symbolism in several different ways as bitcoin and the idea of decentralized technologies continue to disrupt the economy. Several of these street artists employ graffiti in their works to describe Bitcoin's revolutionary aspects in a rebellious manner.
The Bitcoin/cryptocurrency phenomenon has gained popularity over the past few years, and last year it entered a new stage of attention when mainstream observers finally took notice. As with most evolutionary concepts, Bitcoin is no exception since its logo can be found on clothing items, coffee mugs, as well as murals and paintings. There is certainly a lot of street art that features Bitcoin and other crypto symbols all over the world as the following examples demonstrate.
Graffiti on the Streets
How Bitcoin is Changing the World
The infectious spirit behind Bitcoin has seeped into our everyday lives, making it a renaissance of economics. Just a glimpse of what’s to come is shown in these street murals. As you can see, many of the graffiti-masters displayed above have their QR codes on their paintings, and some of these artists have collected thousands of dollars from passersby.
(Contd..)
Graffiti on the Streets
How Bitcoin is Changing the World
Many lives are being changed by crypto today, and the streets around the world can attest to this paradigm shift by some of the messages sprayed in multicolored arrangements across our concrete jungles.
